Academy Award Appetites: What the Oscar Nominees Do (and Don't) Eat

Here's how our favorite celebs stay in award-winning shape.

You've seen them get into character on screen. Now it's time to learn what this year's crop of Academy Award-nominated stars have spent the last year (or more) eating. Whether it was for a role or as part of their typical diets, we're taking a look at how Hollywood's A-listers approach their menus.

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Red Carpet Ready

Red Carpet Ready

If you take a look at this year's class of Oscar-nominated actors and actresses, the first thought that comes to mind may be that they've all been on quite the diet roller coaster lately. Some severely limited their calories (like Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club), while others put on a bit of weight (like Christian Bale for American Hustle), and others just stuck to the foods they enjoy — no part required.

Here we give you the scoop on what the stars were craving and eating (or not eating) leading up to this year's red carpet event.

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Christian Bale: From Fighter to Eater

Christian Bale: From Fighter to Eater

Christian Bale trimmed down for 2010’s The Fighter, but his body needed a bit more padding for 2013's American Hustle. The Best Actor nominee packed on more than 40 pounds to play the paunchy, comb over-wearing Irving Rosenfeld.

Bale told People it wasn't hard to begin his binge: "I ate lots of doughnuts, a whole lot of cheeseburgers and whatever I could get my hands on. I literally ate everything that came my way."

Eventually that gorge fest took its toll. After two months, Bale said his body started to rebel. "It's just saying, 'No, please!'" Ultimately the actor went from 185 pounds to 228, and he told People, "I'm still working it off." But we're pretty sure he'll be at his fighting weight for the big ceremony.

Red Carpet Ready

If you take a look at this year's class of Oscar-nominated actors and actresses, the first thought that comes to mind may be that they've all been on quite the diet roller coaster lately. Some severely limited their calories (like Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club), while others put on a bit of weight (like Christian Bale for American Hustle), and others just stuck to the foods they enjoy — no part required.

Here we give you the scoop on what the stars were craving and eating (or not eating) leading up to this year's red carpet event.

Getty

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Christian Bale: From Fighter to Eater

Christian Bale trimmed down for 2010’s The Fighter, but his body needed a bit more padding for 2013's American Hustle. The Best Actor nominee packed on more than 40 pounds to play the paunchy, comb over-wearing Irving Rosenfeld.

Bale told People it wasn't hard to begin his binge: "I ate lots of doughnuts, a whole lot of cheeseburgers and whatever I could get my hands on. I literally ate everything that came my way."

Eventually that gorge fest took its toll. After two months, Bale said his body started to rebel. "It's just saying, 'No, please!'" Ultimately the actor went from 185 pounds to 228, and he told People, "I'm still working it off." But we're pretty sure he'll be at his fighting weight for the big ceremony.

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Matthew McConaughey: Determined Dieter

If Christian Bale earns the award for best weight gain, Matthew McConaughey is a contender for most transformative weight loss. To play HIV-positive Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club, McConaughey lost 47 pounds by severely reducing his caloric intake. In January he told reporters, "I was losing 7 pounds every week." How did he do it? "I'd have a Diet Coke, two egg whites in the morning, a piece of chicken, then another Diet Coke. That was rough," the actor said.

While on the weight-loss plan, McConaughey figured out some inventive ways to stretch his meals. "I found tapioca pudding and I found the tiniest little antique spoon in New Orleans, a little bitty sugar spoon, and I would eat it with that so it would last longer," McConaughey explained.

While the actor ultimately got to a weight that fit the role — a mere 135 pounds — he's been open about how difficult it's been to bring his body back. "The gaining was trickier than the losing," he said. "It's more fun, but it's also trickier."

For his first meal, McConaughey downed a cheeseburger. "Your body remembers that it lived at 182 pounds and it wants to sprint back and you have to pull the reigns and go, 'Whoa! We gotta take it easy.' It's a marathon," McConaughey said. After his initial indulgence, TMZ reported that McConaughey's weight gain diet consisted of mostly fish, asparagus, eggs, nuts, and sweet potatoes.

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Meryl Streep: Baker by Night

Most of the drama that goes down in August: Osage County happens around the dinner table. Matriarch Violet Weston, played by 18-time Oscar nominated Meryl Streep (this year she's up for Best Actress), dominates the meal as the family dines on chicken and casseroles — one of which unfortunately hits the floor before anyone can get a taste.

Streep, who played a bakery owner and expert croissant maker in It’s Complicated and Julia Child in the late Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, is actually a good cook in her own right. She even shared her recipe for heart-shaped cookies with Good Housekeeping.

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Bradley Cooper: Sushi Fan

Unlike his American Hustle co-stars, Bradley Cooper didn't have to make major changes to his physical appearance (well, other than his perm) to earn a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role as FBI agent Richie DiMaso. A Philadelphia native, Cooper has shared that he is a fan of sushi and his mother's Italian food. But when his parents come to visit him in Los Angeles, the star told People, sushi is not on the menu. "My folks won't eat it," he said.

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Leonardo DiCaprio: Just a Regular Joe

While the real Jordan Belfort reportedly had some strange dining habits (spraying food with Windex to avoid over indulging, eating only the tomato sauce in a pasta dish and leaving the carbs behind), Leonardo DiCaprio, who is nominated for Best Actor for playing Belfort, is known to dine out. He was recently spotted at London’s Yauatcha, a posh sushi restaurant, with his Wolf of Wall Street co-star and pal Jonah Hill.

Last year the star paid three visits to low-key waterfront restaurant Merchants River House in New York, where he reportedly dined on warm spinach and artichoke dip each time. According to People, during one visit, DiCaprio also ordered a Denver omelet and sweet tea vodka with lemonade.

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Jennifer Lawrence: The Real Deal

Jennifer Lawrence is an outspoken star who has made it known that she is not afraid of food. In fact, when speaking with reporters, Lawrence often discusses eating. In one interview she even mocked super model Kate Moss's attitude towards eating. "There's that Kate Moss quote that's like, 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.' I can name a lot of things that taste better than skinny feels. Potatoes, bread…Philly cheese steaks and fries," she told E!

The Best Supporting Actress nominee actually caused a bit of drama on the set of American Hustle when she got orange Doritos dust on a white dress she wears in the film. Luckily the costume team had made extras.

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Jared Leto: Verified Vegetarian

Like his Dallas Buyers Club co-star, Matthew McConaughey, Best Supporting Actor nominee Jared Leto dropped several pounds to play cross-dressing Rayon. According to Leto, the transformative weight loss — he went down to 116 pounds — helped him alter the way he laughed, talked, and walked.

What's Leto eating when he's not trying to lose weight? The actor told GQ in an interview that he has been a vegan/vegetarian for 20 years.

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Chiwetel Ejiofor: No Reservations

While Best Actor nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor didn’t have to gain or lose any weight for his role as Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave, he did endure some extremely hot days and heavy lifting during the filming in Louisiana. Despite all the accolades he’s received this awards season, Ejiofor isn’t aware of his celebrity. In fact, according to Variety, he still makes restaurant reservations under his own name rather than under a pseudonym. The staff at one Beverly Hills café couldn't quite believe it when they saw that the star had reserved a table. "We’re trying really hard not to freak out," a server reportedly said.

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Julia Roberts: Gluten-Free Lifestyle

We're sure Julia Roberts will wear a stunning number when she hits the red carpet as a Best Supporting Actress nominee for her turn in August: Osage County. She has given credit to her gluten-free diet for her fabulous (and over 40) figure, but Roberts is not a fan of deprivation. She told the Daily Mail, "I'm currently experimenting with a gluten-free diet, but I'm not willing to go without treats. I made gluten-free cookies and four loaves of bread for the freezer yesterday before leaving home."